About Saint John County, NB

I’ve become a very savvy computer whiz through my former education in Math & Science, being a former educator and having all of those SEO’s on ActiveRain teaching me and all of the other co-computer savy REALTORS®. The Information Era is here to stay!!!

Today, salespeople who accept & embrace the internet ultimately make their businesses more profitable, while the Realtor who chooses to ignore the internet usually pay the price by going “Out of Business” very quickly. The Realtors who recognize this & make it easy for their consumers to access their information and see what makes them superior also succeed in generating many more sales. We have on our fingertips, the ability to analyze our customer’s behaviors by the way they navigate on our particular websites. That can tell you a lot about your local customers.

So the question is; Will it create more FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner)? No, only if we educate the uneducated consumer on the benefits of using a REALTOR®.

Today, many uneducated consumers fail to see the value of the services of a REALTOR®. Consumers want to save on the commissions, but many don’t get the proper exposure of their property to their potential buyers. With today’s fluctuating market, many of these FSBO’s are either priced too high or too low. Therefore consumers don’t have the most accurate info on their fingertips about what their property is really worth. These consumers are NOT prepared for the disturbing phones calls, unqualified buyers and stressful negotiations that will be needed. The FSBO owner isn’t aware of the potential legal current issues needed before closing their property.

For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Statistics from 2008 NAR Source: 2008 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

FSBO’s accounted for 13% of home sales in 2008. The typical FSBO home sold for $153,000 compared to $211,000 for agent-assisted home sales.

FSBO Methods Used to Market Home:

• Listing on Internet/FSBO website: 45%
• Yard sign . . . 42%
• Friends/neighbors . . . 33%
• Newspaper ad . . . 22%
• Open house . . . 18%

Most Difficult Tasks for FSBO Sellers:

• Selling within the planned length of time: 13%
• Getting the right price: 12%
• Preparing/fixing up home for sale: 11%
• Understanding and performing paperwork: 10%
• Having enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale: 8%

Online FSBO’s offer a variety of services such as; online advertising or auctions, possible time on a cable network, sign kits, brochures or guides on how to sell your home, staging, lawyers, appraisers & access to mortgage brokers. They can charge home sellers $300-$1,200 depending on the services requested. The best part is that most consumers are not aware that these are all available for FREE from most real estate board offices, realty companies and their salespersons.

The BIGGEST problem here is those FSBO consumers don’t have access to the huge group of salespersons and their buyers, since they are NOT part of the REALTORS®' MLS listing system. So the homeowner is basically isolating themselves & their properties by eliminating most potential buyers and salespersons.

In conclusion:

Professional REALTORS® will:

1) Receive all the calls: good & bad.

2) Ensure that only qualified buyers see your property, thus eliminating people who are just “nosey” and endless traffic in your home.

3) They gather all the feedback from potential buyers.

4) Address the sellers on any concerns coming out of the showings.

5) Discuss the latent defects that are usually not readily observable by the seller themselves.

6) Will negotiate the best possible deal for their sellers, from their exposure to negotiations on a daily basis.

7) Your successful agent will know how to find the right info (online or offline) and use it to their seller’s advantage.

8) Are aware of the time constrictions of their sellers and will help to sell it on a timely manner.

Now, knowing this, my question is; "Why would you not hire a REALTOR® to sell your home?"

I need you guys and gals to use your imagination to the best of your ability... in fact, please brainstorm these photos, they are funny!!!

Normally, I usually see a beautiful sunny, colorful sunrise, like the photos on the sides of my blog. Today, I woke up to a quiet, sunny, beautiful morning and found an unknown, interesting and very artistic creature on my observation deck. Came up the stairway and looked through one window to find this!

Looked at it unsure what to make of it, so I did a double-take and observed it again!

Living in Atlantic Canada, it wouldn't surprise me if it's some kind of friendly or frightening creature that climbed up my deck? How did it get here? There's nothing between the deck and the 2nd floor from the outside, except the very extreme hip roofline. It apparently has arms, a head and a body. It looks like it wants to grab something or someone, maybe me!!! Does it have wings? Did it fly onto my observation deck?? So I look at it through the other side of my French doors.

It actually has an extended body, that it seems to be dragging on. Couldn't see what's on the bottom of the end, so I look at it even closer.

It actually has an endless tail that he/she/or it seems to be dragging on.. Couldn't find any shoes or feet....

OMG: It's a ghost! or ....... Is It? Is it a white fluffy icing that someone is playing a trick on me? Since it's now attached to the bottom of my door, How do I get it off my deck???

PLEASE, DOES ANYONE KNOW KNOW IF THEY HAVE SEEN THIS PHENOMENA, CREATURE, THING OR DELICIOUS DESSERT BEFORE???

I'm sure the southern states haven't seen this around.... I LOVE WINTER AND THE UNEXPECTED GUESTS, ESPECIALLY THE CREATIVE ARTISTIC NATURE TYPE!!! ;>))

Why Should You Hire Me?

Real estate has gone from paper & pencil days, to high-tech knowledge! Today, there are many other local REALTORS® that you can hire in the Saint John community. Some of those REALTORS® have never had additional training other than the formal training they received from the Province/State they got their original training from, with some many years ago. Others say they are certified but never show their credentials on additional training. Now the question should be: Why do some REALTORS® keep training, while others just look for the next listing or client?

Don’t get me wrong, the training I received from New Brunswick Real Estate Association was wonderful and I learned plenty, but it was just the “Tip of the Iceberg”. The extra training I obtained after my former REALTOR® training gave me an edge to really research and dive into the real estate market in Saint John, NB.

When I first began my real estate career, I joined the ActiveRain network, a network that has 170,000 professionals from a variety of real estate professions. ie: brokers, mortgagers, home inspectors, banks, etc. Reading other REALTORS® blogs, SEO learning sessions, referring clients, asking questions and finding answers gave me insight to the world of the internet and how to capture it.

Did this all came in at a cost? With additional certifications or membership statuses, there were always additional fees to take the classes, fees to keep my designations, seminars & annual international meetings for networking, therefore, $$$ to keep my skills & networking up-to-date, that came out of my pocket and not the brokerages.

Today, besides the annual training with NBREA (New Brunswick Real Estate Board & SJREA (Saint John Real Estate Board), I’ve had 3 additional certifications and/or memberships to obtain that additional training to work with all sorts of individuals, cultures and income.

My first one, I received when working with Prudential Summit Real Estate, I got my “e-Certified” designation. This meant that I could easily and quickly google the internet and that I was a computer savy REALTOR® in the latest technology and services. Do REALTORS® need to be computer savy? Yes, of course, since today we are dealing with an International group of clients. We need to be as up-to-date on computer techniques and known services on the internet to sell our clients property globally and to be able to find them a property to their next destination worldwide.

My second designation, I received before I moved to Royal LePage Atlantic, my current brokerage firm. I received my ACCREDITED GREENAGENT™ certification. To receive this certification you have to take 3 Residential or 4 Commercial courses through NAGAB (National Association of Green Agents & Brokers) out of Toronto, Ontario. Currently, NAGAB has 27,000 members who have had this training. The other criteria was to be actively engaged in the real estate profession and to hold a valid real estate license in your province. Finally, you had to be approved by the NAGAB committee. To keep this designation, all GREENAGENT™ Realtors have to take an additional class annually to keep their skills up on the technological advances for Green real estate. The 3 courses I took were: Hydro Usage, Home Energy Efficiency and Green Heating & Cooling Options for the Home. There was an exam for each course that you needed to get 80% completion to receive credit.

My third designation, I received working with Royal LePage Atlantic was when I had to go to Sarasota, Florida this past summer to receive the extensive training. I got membership to the “Institute for Luxury Homes Marketing” or ILHM. They have trained over 8,000 real estate professionals on four continents!

This was an eye opening experience and I’m very happy I got the training! Having lived in Florida before, it was a pleasure to revisit one of the 10 places I’ve lived in this world! Having this training introduced me to another world of online websites for marketing & advertising, presentation skills, photography & visual arts. Plus learning information about the needs & demands of affluent buyers & sellers. They also gave me the social grace I needed when speaking to these individuals, since discretion was one of their primary goals. Having lived in many places in my lifetime helped put all of these new skills in perspective to utilize daily.

Membership with ILHM has given me a partnership with these corporations that help me receive special products, services and pricing: Altos Research, American Affluence Research Center, DuPont Registry, FIABCI, Gooder Group and LuxuryProperty.com.

I’ve obtain a luxury agent profile on the Wall Street Journal’s website, membership in an International property MLS and agent networking site. I get an opportunity to promote international builders & developers projects on my website and many other discounts & freebies on the previous corporations named.

To receive this certification you have to take an intensive 2-day course and pass two written tests at 80%. The 2 courses I took were: Positioning & Branding Yourself as a Luxury Home Expert and A Luxury Marketing Idea Blitz. Another benefit to these two courses, were they are accepted with the CRS (Council of Residential Specialists) for 1 unit course each, total 2 unit courses for obtaining my CRS credentials in the near future. I have the competency, desire & fortitude to learn new skills, the understanding of global issues, attitudes, cultures & interests. I listen & learn to the changing real estate market, present superb listing presentations, go all out for my clients, knowledge of luxury home marketing systems, green technology knowledge & awareness and finally the willingness & savy to know that real estate is an ever changing market.

Finally, going back to the titled question, “Why Should You Hire Me?”

I have the competency, desire & fortitude to learn new skills, the understanding of global issues, attitudes, cultures & interests. I listen & learn to the changing real estate market, go all out for my clients, present superb listing presentations, knowledge of luxury home marketing systems, green technology knowledge & awareness and finally the willingness & savy to know that real estate is an ever changing market.

Despite the recent economic trouble Saint John's economy has been growing. Over the past couple of years Saint John has had some major energy projects on the go, although most of these projects are completed the economic spin offs are under way.

Whether or not you're local you don't have to look far to see how well we're doing here. All throughout the city ground is being broken on all kinds of developments. Now that most of the industrial development has been completed, Saint John is seeing a BIG boom in retail development.

Here's a list of some of the latest developments:

• Complete renovation and over haul of the McAllister Place Shopping Center
• Ongoing building of the East Point Shopping Distric, now underway is the new Costco Store and TD Canada Trust building.
• Lancaster Mall on the West Side of Saint John has seen several new business including Java Moose, International Clothers, Fairweather, Urban Planet, Great Canadian Doller Store, along with the addition of a new waiting area for the bus stop (which was moved closer to the mall in the parking lot) and complete renovation of Zellers.
• New Lawton's store underway.
• New Sobeys & Strip Malls (Bulk Barn, Dollarama, Staples and more!)

If you're looking for a city that a safe bet, look no further!

Resources:

Harrity Real Estate Services Inc (Property Management & Investments)

Sellwithme.ca

So we are celebrating the bountiful harvest!!!

Each year, for the last 2 years, I have been chosen to be the Mascot for our Royal LePage Atlantic Kiosk. The Kiosk is located at the local mall here in Saint John, New Brunswick, and is located in the center aisle of the mall. At our Kiosk we have photos of existing homes for sales on moveable display cases that potential buyers and sellers love to go and flip them over. We also have a computer with a countertop so potential buyers or sellers can sit and discuss any details with the Realtor. Each year, very young kids and their parents come in around 5:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m. and do their "Trick or Treating" from store vendor to store vendor... It's especially a busy place when the weather is probamatic; today being windy and rain showers.

This is a GREAT time and an effective marketing strategy for getting business cards out to potential sellers and buyer!!!

Last year I played Maleficent the "beautiful" witch from the Sleep Beauty story. This year I played "The Grinch" with a few modifications. My Grinch costume consisted of lime green tights with two pairs of socks; one with strips and the small ones with bells and finished off with elf slippers. (Had to stay comfortable!) The rest of the costume had the official Santa look with "The Grinch" written across the front, with lime green winter gloves and the official "Grinch" mask. Since the mask was warm to wear, when I had it off, I still looked like one of Santa's elves, so I could play two roles in one.

Going back to handing out business cards, this is the way I do it. I get two pieces of "Good candy" and one business card that I put in each Halloween bag. This way I feel like the possibility of getting future clients are higher, since most of the parents will check the candy, they will hopefully pull out the business card and give the candy to their kids, if they don't eat it themselves. LOL Getting the candy bags ready is time consuming, but I believe well worth it.

When I was ready to hand out the candy, it was FUN to see all of the kids & adult costumes and interact with the parents & their kids. The parents and their kids usually start out from one end and work the whole mall through. I usually stay on one side to give all the kids their treats. Today, I gave out 370 BAGS OF CANDY...

I highly recommend this to other Realtors, since it's wonderful to interact with the community on different levels, especially the "humane" and compassionate side of us. All Realtors should have fun with this day, it's a Great time to let loose and make connections with the community and at work.... especially if you've had a Halloween Barbecue at your office the day before!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN....